Anyone whose ever pitched a new business or product idea knows the image that funders want to see is the fabled "hockey stick."

The need to see growth that goes from relatively flat to relatively straight up, preferably in as short a time as possible. Take a look at the latest graph of the global bike sharing market (above). At the end of last year, there were 844 cities with bike sharing, up from 703 the year prior, and astonishingly, up from only 11 in 2004. And yet, we're still at the leading edge of this industry. New bike sharing models, like Zagster, are enabling even smaller cities to launch bike sharing programs. New technology platforms are enabling peer-peer models for bike sharing. And increasingly, cities like Philadelphia and universities like The Ohio State University are making accessibility to all a priority for programs.

We'll check back in this time next year and see how the chart is looking -- but we're pretty sure its going to be just as steep.